Nemo
by Dyde
Summary: Piper gave Percy a gift and it causes stress on his birthday. Percbeth. Inspired by a drawing from Viria.


"Night Wise Girl" Percy said, placing his hands on Annabeth's hips as he pulled her in for a goodnight kiss.

Annabeth returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Night Seaweed Brain." She said smiling. She then left and went into her cabin, exhausted after the day. Plus, she had to make things everything was set up for tomorrow.

His smile still on his face, Percy went off to his own cabin. He was also exhausted after the training. He collapsed in his bed, pulling his stuffed fish close as he closed his eyes. He hoped he would be able to sleep well, and uninterrupted tonight.

XxXxXxXxX

Percy woke up to a bucket of water being dumped on his head. He sat up sputtering, still clutching the plush fish to his chest. Trying to look around he located the source of the attack. Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Jason, Rachel and a few other senior campers were standing around his bed smiling.

"Happy Birthday!" They erupted in a loud cheer.

Percy smiled, laughing. "Thanks guys." He barely noticed the group of campers move from the back with another bucket of water. Focusing, he stopped the water mid air, and sent it back at the group, soaking everyone. Save Annabeth, who realized what would happen and ducked in time. Smiling, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Percy and kissing him. She pulled back, her smile even bigger.  
"Happy birthday Seaweed brain." She said, before pecking him on the lips again.

"Thanks Wise Girl." Percy returned, smiling. He set down the plush, and it was picked up immediately by the visiting roman praetor, and his good friend Jason..

"You sleep with a stuff animal still?" He said, holding up the fish.

Percy blushed and snatched it back, tossing it to the back of his bed. "Shut up." He said indignantly.

Jason laughed, shrugging. "Keep it away from Octavio."

"Was that..." Piper's voice chimed in, her eyes lighting up with knowledge.

"Yeah." Percy mumbled, burying his head in Annabeth's neck in embarrassment.

"What?" Annabeth asked, her stormy eyes confused. What was going on? What did Piper know that she didn't?

Piper tried to suppress a smile. "Don't worry about it." She said before breaking out into a giggle fit. At Annabeth's glare she waved her hand dismissively. "I'll tell you later."

Piper turned and ushered the rest of them out of the cabin. "Come on, come on. Let's leave the love-fish alone for a bit. You all still have duties to attend to."

After they left Percy stood up, stretching his back. He looked over his shoulder at Annabeth. "I take it this was all your idea?" He accused.

"Yup."

"You know I told you not to make a big deal out of it."

"Yeah."

"So you ignored me."

"Completely."

Percy just shook his head, laughing. He disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, changing into some fresh clothes. After brushing his teeth he returned to find Annabeth sitting on his bed, holding up the plush fish.

"Is... is this from Finding Nemo?" She wondered out loud.

"Uh... Yeah..." He said dismissively.

"Why were you sleeping wit-" Annabeth was cut off as Percy kissed her, effectively distracting her.

Grinning triumphantly, and before Annabeth could return to her questioning he grabbed her hand and pulled her away towards the mess hall. He entered the mess hall with his hand around Annabeth's waist. Almost immediately it erupted into applause, and broke into a chorus of happy birthdays. Percy just laughed, walking to his seat which was already filled to the brim with every assortment of blue breakfast. Including, but not limited to, blueberry blue-colored pancakes with blue whip cream and after a bite, he discovered blue cherries.

Soon afterward the excitement died down and everyone went back to their own tables, finishing their meal. Percy still got the occasional 'happy birthday' and the occasional gift from people he was close to.

Gulping down the last bite of his breakfast, he leaned back with a content sigh. He looked over to Annabeth, who was smiling holding out a small box.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Wise girl." He said, taking it and shaking it slightly.

"Whatever Seaweed brain, just open it." She dismissed, taking another bite of her own similarly blue pancakes.

After fiddling with the bow for a few minutes(which Annabeth undid with a pull after laughing at him) he pulled off the lid. Inside the box was a small trident charm. The closer Percy looked, the more detail he saw carved into the trident. It was a deep sea blue, and on the handle was carved "Seaweed Brain".

Percy looked back up at Annabeth, his jaw dropped as she was grinning. "Annabeth, this is amazing. How did you..."

Annabeth shrugged. "I had help. Your dad hand-picked the pearl. I had help carving it from Leo and the rest of his cabin."

Percy looked at her shocked. His dad had helped? His face slowly broke out into a grin. "You're the best girlfriend ever."

"I know." She grinned. "Which is fitting, since you're the best boyfriend ever." She countered, pulling him in for another kiss. "Here." She offered, taking off his necklace as she fastened the charm on it, next to all his camp half-blood beads. She put it back on him, being caught in a hug.

Returning the hug, she smiled. "So... about that fish... why does pipe-"

"About time for training." Percy said, jumping up and away from the table. "Don't wanna be late.

Annabeth glared at his retreating back. She wouldn't give up till she got to the bottom of it. Still, he was right. She got up, following him to the training fields. A little bit later she showed up in her armor, and walked next to Percy, holding his hand.

"Happy Birthday, my boy." Chiron said, slapping Percy on the back. He beamed at him proudly. "No slacking though just because it's your birthday. Training is always important. In fact, show us what you learned from all your experience." He offered, ushering him in front of the crowd of Demigod's who were waiting for instruction. "Now then. To find your opponent."

Annabeth raised her hand immediately, but Chiron waved her off. "We've seen you two fight enough. Someone fresh... Leo perhaps." He offered, though was immediately rejected by the boy who waved his hands back and forth, mouthing 'no way dude'. "Hm... Jason, if you would be so kind." Chiron called.

Jason shrugged. "Why not, I'm not afraid". He taunted playfully. Jason dawned his helmet as Percy uncapped riptide.

"Ready... begin!" Chiron called as he stepped back.

Immediately the two demigods clashed, both of them unable to gain the upper hand. Soon the crowds were cheering loudly, egging on either side. Annabeth found her self yelling words of encouragement too. She laughed hard as she heard a loud call from the back praising "Team Leo!"

"Ready to give up?" Percy taunted as he parried another strike from Jason, leaving a clean, but shallow cut on his leg.

"Pretty big words coming from someone who sleeps with a stuffed animal."

Annabeth saw Percy's reaction immediate. Maybe it was because she had spent a good share of time staring into his green eyes, but she noticed them darken as the familiar expression of concern and was it... shame? Something changed in them. It was small, but Percy's sword lowered as he got distracted. Before she could scream at him to keep his head in the game Jason had struck. With a quick upwards strike Riptide was knocked clear from Percy's grip and flew backwards, sticking into a tree. The tip of Jason's sword was inches from Percy's throat.

The crowd was absolutely silent, so quiet that Annabeth heard the sound of arrows being shot from across the field. Shortly after it erupted into loud cheers as Jason put away his sword and walked into the cheering crowd triumphant. Annabeth stood rooted in place as she watched Percy's eyes flash towards her before he stormed off. She was about to run off after him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was about to give a few choice words to whoever was stopping her when she saw Piper standing there with an equally concerned expression.

"I need to..."

"Come with me for a moment." She said, leading Annabeth away. She saw Jason make to follow but Piper stopped him cold with a glare. It was clear she would have her own words to say to Jason, who looked less like a gloating winner immediately.

"What is with that damn fish?" Annabeth asked once they were out of earshot.

Piper nervously played with her hair. "I think I understand now. After everything died down I brought him back the fish from Disney World when Jason took me there for our anniversary."

Annabeth couldn't help but smile. A Finding Nemo plush was a surprisingly accurate portrayal of one of the worst parts of her life.

"But why is he so weird about it? So he slept with it once, it's not like him to be hung up about that. He certainly wouldn't lose focus during a battle." Annabeth wondered, her stormy eyes darkening as she tried to piece it together.

"Well..." Piper started, looking away.

"What?" Annabeth demanded, stepping in front of her gaze.

"I'm not sure. Last night I was on a late night stroll with Jason when I was going back to the cabin to sleep. I heard Percy talking when I passed by his cabin, I figured he was talking to you. He was talking about... when you two... were in..." Piper looked down, unable to force herself to spit out the words. She didn't need to, because immediately Annabeth had run off after Percy. Piper sighed, turning back to where she saw Jason staring at her from a distance. Her gaze hardened as she went over to scold him.

Annabeth found Percy sitting on the edge of the lake, skipping rocks which happened to bounce all the way across the lake, with a little help from the lake itself.

"Cheater." She said, sitting down next to Percy.

"Mmm..." Was Percy's response as he still looked out across the lake.

"Piper explained about Nemo." Annabeth started, staring at him to gauge his reaction.

Percy frowned. "Ah. It was her birthday gift to me. I got it the last time they visited."

"That's not all."

Percy didn't reply.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked hesitantly.

He slowly turned to meet her eyes.

"Do you... do you talk to it. About when we were down there?" She asked hesitantly.

Percy just buried his head in his hands. "Pathetic huh?" He mumbled through his hands, waiting for her to laugh at him.

He was surprised as he felt her arms wrap around him. "Not at all Percy. Though you know you can always talk to me..." She said softly.

Percy looked at her, in disbelief. "I know I can. It's just. Sometimes you're away in your cabin sleeping and if I wake up in the middle of the night..." He trailed off. He didn't need to say he had nightmares.

Annabeth knew full well what he meant. She still had them too. She was a little jealous of Percy, she had no one to talk to aside from him either. Sure her friends were there for her but she couldn't describe what had happened, and they could never understand. Only Percy could.

"It's over now." Percy mumbled, resting his head against Annabeth's. He wasn't sure who he was talking to anymore.

"Yeah. It is." Annabeth murmured, turning her head to kiss him softly.

A little while later they returned to the training grounds, walking hand in hand. Jason greeted them, being coaxed by a still upset looking Piper. He walked up to Percy, offering him a hand while he rubbed the back of his head with the other hand.

"Uh... Sorry dude. Piper explained."

Percy shrugged it off, smiling. "It's fine." He said, slapping Jason's hand.

"Hey Fish boy, how's Nemo?" The obnoxious voice came from one of the senior Campers, a guy named Jayce from the Ares cabin.

Before Piper or Jason could respond, either physically or verbally, Annabeth had already landed a clean punch to his stomach, which dropped him to the ground.

Blushing slightly she flexed her wrist. "Come on, lunch is being served." She said, grabbing Percy's hand and leading him away, followed by a demigod couple that was cracking up.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! This was inspired by a drawing by one of my favorite Tumblrs, Viria. I believe she got the idea from Andythelemon on Tumblr as well but her picture inspired to me to write this. Well, yeah. Reviews, comments, suggestions are all welcome!


End file.
